Tia & Travis: City Girl, Country Boy

August 20, 2011 — Locust Hills

The late-afternoon ceremony was held in the courtyard adjacent to the clubhouse.

Photography by Studio 5

The bridesmaids wore cream-colored dresses and their hair down.

Photography by Studio 5

Flower arrangements floated in the open pool.

Photography by Studio 5

Wrought iron chandeliers brought the indoors out.

Photography by Studio 5

Real flowers embellished the branch details on the cake.

Photography by Studio 5

Tuna ceviche in cucumber cups.

Photography by Studio 5

The bride changed into a cocktail dress for her first dance.

Photography by Studio 5

A lounge area for relaxing between dances.

Tia and Travis had been friends for years, through college at the University of St. Thomas, graduation, jobs, relationships, breakups. But they had never dated. They’d toyed with the idea, but the timing had never been right—until 2008, when Tia finally confessed she’d had a crush on Travis for years.

About three and a half years later, Travis asked Tia to marry him in June 2011, setting in motion something almost unheard-of these days: a short engagement. Really short. “We did a two-and-a-half-month engagement. It was a whirlwind, but I loved it,” says Tia. “We both wanted the wedding in the summer, so it was either two months or 14.”

What some people might call crazy ended up working well for the couple, who learned to make quick and efficient decisions. One of the most important tasks was finding a venue they could book with just two months’ notice. Their solution: the clubhouse at Locust Hills, a private Wayzata home development.

The setting fit with their overall vision for the wedding. “Travis and I are really this northern country boy meets city girl, so we wanted that kind of combination of rugged with a touch of class,” says Tia. Their outdoor ceremony reflected that mix, as did the color scheme: elegant shades of cream and white with touches of brown and green, echoing Locust Hills’ stables and greenery.
An avid outdoorsman, Travis even hunted down the main course—in a sense. “I reached out to a friend who owns a commercial fishery in Alaska and convinced them that I was ordering 300 pounds of sockeye salmon from them and that I would pick it up at the Delta cargo terminal,” he says. Next, he found a meat market in southern Minnesota to provide 315 fresh 10-ounce filets. It wasn’t the typical do-it-yourself wedding project, but it’s one this bride and groom will never forget.